I always have four loads of laundry needing to be washed, dried, folded and put away. It boggles my mind in much the same way as the fact that cookie recipes never make 36 cookies – even if you don’t eat the dough.

I do a solid laundry run once a week. I strip the beds and run the washer and dryer for an entire day. You would think this Laundry Saturday would result in me being ahead of the laundry game. Or, at least, pacing it nicely without being out of breath.

You – and I – would think wrong.

It’s like the laundry basket houses a wrinkled, smelly gnome who gleefully multiplies socks and towels until the basket overflows by Wednesday. The kids call the pile of clean laundry on my bed Mount Laundry and delight in our “game” of putting away laundry during which I throw socks, pajamas, and underwear at them while they race to and from their room putting it away.

I joke that if I won the lottery I’d hire a laundress. Someone who’s sole job would be to do my laundry. I’d pay him or her a very nice salary, provide benefits, and make sure they got a Christmas bonus. Anyone willing to take on Mount Laundry deserves that and more.

There has to be a way – short of the lotto win – to get this mountain under control. It’s currently staring at me and mocking my attempts at ignoring it. It is truly one part of motherhood no one told me about.

Does anyone have any fail proof ways to keep on top of the laundry? Is there a day that’s better suited to laundry? Is there a system I don’t know about?

Mandy Dawson is the creator of In Mandyland, an almost daily blog recording her adventures in juggling a full-time job, two active children, four arguing hens, a fluffy bunny, and one ex-husband. A self-diagnosed gardening and crafting addict, she often finds herself gluing together clay pots and trying to discover the cure for brown thumb. When she’s not writing, she can be found burning dinners while she stares off into space with a story idea. She was a regular contributor for Makes Fun of Stuff, Aiming Low, and Six Kitchens, and has been featured on BlogHer and Mamapedia. She is an Assistant Editor for Write on Edge and has had her fiction featured in three anthologies currently available on Amazon.